.Bookings for holidays in Portugal are increasing, although the country’s borders remain closed to tourists. Following the green list announcement, tour operator Jet2 reports a 1,300 percentage point increase in holiday reservations compared to the previous week, while Ryanair released an additional 175,000 seats on its routes between the UK and Portugal this summer.

H.The Oliday agency Not Just Travel is experiencing a “frenzy of activity” for Portugal bookings, according to co-founder Steve Witt, and Tui has also announced new flights between Great Britain, Madeira and the Algarve.

However, mainland Portugal remains closed to tourism with no indication of when the holidays can resume. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office warns, “If you are coming from the UK, you can only enter [Portugal] for essential purposes, e.g. B. to live with immediate family members, or for professional, educational, health or humanitarian reasons. “

However, tourism to the Portuguese islands of Madeira and the Azores is currently permitted with only PCR testing required prior to arrival.

Travel agents are selling Portugal itineraries in the hopes that the country’s restrictions will ease, but if tourism continues to be banned, they will have to rebook or refund vacationers. Some are more cautious than others: while Ryanair’s new flights start on May 17th, Jet2 has postponed the resumption of flights and holidays until June 24th.

Portugal is one of only 12 “green list” destinations announced by Transport Minister Grant Shapps last week. This means the vacation can resume from May 17th and travelers returning to the UK will not need to be quarantined.

Scroll down to find out more about this and about today’s other top travel stories.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR